Holly Endersby

Holly Endersby has been an award-winning outdoor writer for 25 years, working in newspaper, magazines, TV, and web-based magazines. She enjoys horse packing in wilderness areas, fishing, hunting, snow and water sports, yoga, and hiking. She was the first Conservation Director for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

Tucked away in northeast Oregon near Enterprise, the Preserve isn’t off a freeway. You don’t come here by accident. People come to the Preserve because of the rich wildlife, the immense landscape and the solitude. Almost twenty years ago, The Nature Conservancy purchased 33,000 acres of the larger 330,000 acre Zumwalt Prairie, the largest remaining grassland habitat of its type in North America. And few people know about it today.

At 495,502 acres, the area has room to roam both for visitors and the animals calling this special area home. Managed by the BLM, “The Breaks,” as locals call it, is a paradise for hikers, hunters, equestrians, anglers, and boaters, with badlands sprouting out-croppings, steep bluffs, grassy plains, and, of course, the mighty Missouri River and its tributaries.

Anyone traveling near the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge this summer will be richly rewarded by stopping and spending several hours walking the trails leading from one diverse habitat to another.

Now that the warm days and long twilights of summer are here, we can relax with a wonderful glass of wine on the deck or patio. This is also the time to relax the rule on room temperature reds and enjoy the cooling pleasure of lightly chilled ones, along with some delightfully refreshing whites and rosé.